After being jolted awake this morning in Fukui (a little too close for comfort) I’m wondering where the safest place inside my house would be in an earthquake that could cause my house to collapse. I read someone‘s post that said since old Japanese houses collapse like a pancake, the top floor is best. I find that hard to believe but I’m far from an expert!
My house was built in the late 50’s so it’s an old, traditional wood house. For what it’s worth, it seems to have been made very well because the guy who built it was rich and spared no expense. That said – it’s still an old house and makes me wonder how it would fare in another quake or bigger than the one we got on New Year’s.
The house has two floors with the second floor only covering the middle of the house if that makes sense. That means the kitchen and bathroom, a few smaller rooms and the engawas are on their own while the middle rooms have a second floor above them. Usually we’re in one of the middle rooms or in the kitchen. When we got the alarm today we ran into the kitchen to duck under the table.
Do we want to be where there’s only a roof above us? Or better where the second floor is above us? Or better to BE on the second floor? I know that no matter where we are, we want to protect our heads.
But for anyone who knows about these traditional houses and their structural integrity- please shed some light! Thank you.
by FujiiyamaMama
6 comments
Where there’s only a roof above you. You’d want the least shit potentially falling on your head as possible
Structural engineer here. Generally, the safest spot to be in during an earthquake is under a table or in a thick doorframe; you will be best protected from falling debris there. You should avoid rushing very far and take the nearest possible shelter; that way you minimize the risk of falling over if having something fall on top of you.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to tell how safe your house is without doing a walkthrough of it or seeing detailed plans and pictures. In an earthquake, it is best for your house to have some flexibility to it. Historic Asian architecture is actually very famous for this. Many joins were constructed without nails and relied on interlocking wood instead. This gave them flexibility in earthquakes, which allows the buildings to move without collapsing during the shaking.
That said, there’s no “best” place to be in during a building collapse. Collapses are completely unpredictable and debris go in every direction. You could even be on the roof during a collapse and still end up buried by rubble.
My relatives actually run out of their house into the field once the warning comes. It’s an old kominka but have been reinforced over the years. They are Japanese. So it was odd when they drag me off out of the door and stood in the field, away from the buildings. I thought they would dive under a table.
As you might know, houses built before 1981 are not up to date with current earthquake standards. Hard/impossible to predict exactly what would happen, but old houses often collapse or their roof gets damaged during earthquake.
Being under the table is the best option, if you are in bed covering with futon/pillow is second best I think. During strong earthquake you won’t be able to stand/you will fall down, don’t try to run away.
Stay away from windows and get under a strong table
Jump under the closest table. There’s a reason Japanese kids train to do that.